Honor Play Review: Huawei's GPU Turbo Makes Subtle Difference

What makes a smartphone a "gaming phone"? Gaming brand Razer made one last year and gave it an industry-leading 120Hz display, which meant it refreshed at twice the speed as most displays out there, giving Razer's screen an extra smooth, liquidy feel. Asus then followed with its own device, which had an internal cooling system and extra slots for gaming accessories and add-ons. Both of those devices were bulky and pricey and looked different from everything else on the market.

Huawei's take on the gaming phone, released under its Honor sub brand, is a lot more subtle. From the outside, no one would be able to tell the Honor Play apart from any other Android phone released in 2018: it's got a notched display with rounded corners, small chin bezel, and the back has the same vertically-aligned camera/logo layout as most recent Huawei devices. The only difference with the Play in terms of physical build is it uses an aluminum back instead of the glass. And even then, the choice of cold metal as a body has nothing to do with gaming; it was probably chosen because the Honor Play is a mid-tier device priced at around $300, and glass backs are reserved for "premium" phones, probably because Samsung and Apple deemed it so.

Metal back and a rear fingerprint reader differentiate it from the Huawei P20 Pro, which has a glass back and front fingerprint reader.Ben Sin

Yes, there is a headphone jack.Ben Sin

So everything that makes the Play a gaming phone is under the hood. There's a better, smarter haptic engine that can pump out stronger vibrations tied to in-game action; there's a sound system that knows how to pump out directional sound. But most importantly, it's the GPU Turbo software addition.

Developed by Huawei entirely in-house (supposedly over the course of five years), GPU Turbo works hand-in-hand with Huawei's own chipset (in the Play, that would be the Kirin 970) to intelligently allocate resources to lighten the work load of the Kirin chipset when running graphically intensive games. This, according to Huawei/Honor, improves graphic processing efficiency by 60% while burning less battery.

Game on

I've tested my trial unit of the Play for a few days playing heavy games such as Asphalt 9 and PUBG Mobile, and while I can't say the graphic/performance boost is "60%" better than other phones (that's a high number!) but I did notice smoother frame rates. My takeaways from playing are backed by benchmark tests I and other publications ran as well. On Antutu's 3D graphics test, the Honor Play scored higher than the LG G7, which runs on a newer, more powerful Snapdragon 845 chipset and the Huawei P20 Pro, which is powered by the same Kirin 970 found inside the Play.

But here's the thing, the Play beats those phones on Antutu scores and framerates durng actual gameplay, but we're talking a small difference. Even from Honor's own internal testing, the Play can run PUBG Moble at an average of 40 fps (frames per second), which is impressive, considering how graphically intensive the game is, while the Samsung Galaxy S9 can only run it at around 37. Is three frames per second going to matter to anyone but the most hardcore of gamers? Probably not.

Battery life was a lot better on the Honor Play -- I could game for an hour and only lose about 20% battery life, when a Samsung phone would drop close to a third of its battery power during the same period. But I'm not sure how much of that is the GPU, considering that Huawei handsets have had best in-class battery life for the past two years.

But then again, that I'm comparing the $300 Honor Play to the $900 Samsung phone speaks volumes. The Honor Play can definitely run circles around other phones in this price range in terms of gaming.

As mentioned earlier, the Play has a stronger/smarter vibration engine and sound system many other phones. In PUBG Mobile, for example, the Play vibrates in a way that simulates gunfire when I'm shooting, or being shot. Honor says later the phone will be able to pump out directional sound depending on what's happening on screen -- for example, a car zooming by me from my left side would result in engine roaring sound blasting from the left speaker -- but as of now, the feature isn't ready. Game makers have to optimize their games for GPU Turbo: the good news is Honor has already partnered with Tencent, the largest mobile gaming platform in the world.

It can do phone things too...

Elsewhere, the Honor Play performs admirably as a smartphone. The LCD display is vibrant and gets bright enough for outdoor use; Android 8.1 is covered by EMUI 8.2 but the skin is much cleaner than before, with less bloatware and generally a more aesthetically pleasing look. All the software touches that I enjoyed on Huawei devices, such as knuckle gestures and granular notification management, is here.

Honor tries hard to separate itself from Huawei, but at the end of the day the Honor Play feels like recent Huawei phones I've tested, and that's mainly a good thing.

In terms of photography, the Play's camera is good for a $300 phone, but obviously doesn't hold up against more premium phones. Impressively, the scene recognition feature that was a huge part of Huawei's Mate 10 and P20 series has made its way to the Honor Play. From my testing, the phjone could tell the difference between a sunny day and an overcast day, a flower from a plant, a cat from a dog. Once the phone has recognized the scene/object, it will tweak photo settings to produce what it thinks is a better image. For example, the image below, of a mural in Kuala Lumpur, got Honor's AI-boost. The yellow in real life was a lighter shade that didn't appear quite as punchy to the eye. Purists may complain that this is not an accurate representation of the scene in real life, but others may like the souped-up image.

A graffiti in Kuala Lumpur.Ben Sin

A lot of users actually find Huawei's software AI tweaks too heavy-handed, but I'm okay with it. The good news is you can always turn it off if you wish. The point is, AI scene recognition was a headline grabbing feature of Huawei's premium $900 phones just a few months ago, now it's here on the company's $300 device.

16-megapixel main lens with a 2-megapixel depth sensor.Ben Sin

In general, the camera focuses fast and produces clean images. Edge detection is on point for bokeh shots thanks to the secondary depth-sensor and Huawei's software algorithm.

A bokeh shot with the Honor Play.Ben Sin

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Notice the Play's camera overexposes the lights and there's quite a bit of noise.Ben Sin

The Honor Play correctly identifying an overcast sky and a plant.Ben Sin

For players and non-players

It's understandable why Honor has marketed the Play as a gaming phone -- the mobile gaming industry is blooming and China is becoming a leader in that field -- but truth be told, the Play is a really great-valued mid-tier phone more than a full-blown professional gaming phone.

Sure, GPU Turbo improves framerate by a bit, and vibration and sound system are fun additions. But real gamers would still opt for something like the 120Hz screen of the Razer Phone or something with more raw power. Yes, Asus and Razer's devices cost a lot more than the Honor Play, but since when have gamers shown they worry about spending when it comes to getting the best performance? GPU Turbo will be sent via over-the-air update to other Huawei devices such as the Honor 10 and Huawei P20 series in the following weeks too.

The Play has a 6.3-inch display.Ben Sin

Ultimately, I see the Honor Play as a very good mid-tier phone that's a great bargain. Consider this: for $300, you're getting almost the same phone as Huawei's top dog the P20 Pro (which was critically acclaimed), with the only exception being the latter has a far better camera. So if you're someone who doesn't take a lot of photos, then the Honor Play represents a superb value.

I'm a Chinese-American journalist in Hong Kong, covering consumer tech in Asia. Before focusing on this exciting beat, I was a general culture writer and editor with bylines in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, New York Magazine, among others.
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